GUUS HOLDS THE KEY

RUSSIA:

Russia are rated 25^th in the world by FIFA.

They are far from being favorites but other teams will be wary of them after they knocked England out with that 2-1 victory in Moscow. And Zenith St Petersburg victory in the Uefa Cup showed that Russian football is on the up again thanks to the oligarch’s oil millions. That was hardly a flash in the pan either, CSKA Moscow won it in 2005 and all with a lot of home spun talent.

Many have proved to be top players such as midfielders Andrei Arshavin and Konstantin Zyryanov, Striker Pavel Pogrebnyak and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeiev who all played a major part in the victory against Glasgow Rangers. Russia will also rely on other great players such as former Marseille’s striker Dmitry Sychev or CSKA Moscow’s midfield Yuri Zhirkov who is nicknamed the Russian Ronaldinho.

But the strongest chance of success for Russia lies with coach Guus Hiddink, the Dutch magician has in fact succeeded in everything he has undertaken since 2001. Remember the World Cup 2002 when as the coach of South Korea he led his team to the semi-finals? In the World Cup 2006 he managed Australia to the last eight only to be eliminated unfairly 1-0 as a result of an imaginary penalty granted to the Italians? And as coach at PSV Eindhoven he has also won three championships and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.